No, No, and No.

Weight gain with age is NOT inevitable.

Weight gain with hormone changes is NOT inevitable.

Yes, hormones change the game. At least temporarily. If you’re willing to change your strategies in response, you can still win the game. If the quarterback keeps throwing when he’s getting intercepted it’s predictable that a loss is coming. You have to respond to your circumstances.

Weight gain with a more sedentary lifestyle, lower quality sleep, more stress and more compensation with food is inevitable. If you’re stuffing yourself for a rich life experience or payback for a daily life that is so far from ideal that you need to numb, you’ll likely gain fat. It’s not rocket science. If you’re cheating yourself on sleep that starts early and meets your personal sleep need you’re going to have a hard time losing fat.

If you resist changing the habits that got you belly bulge, you get to keep it. Simple as that.

Short term pain of change…long term pleasure,

or short term submission to pleasure and long-term pain:

Your Choice.

How do you avoid weight gain with age? Or regroup if you’ve got it?

1. You may have to fight to give up your old habits.

If you’re not willing to do that STOP reading. No one can help you if you won’t help yourself. If you want to revert to habits that got you here in the first place, you’re probably guaranteeing that you stay in the situation you’re in.

2. Wine or cocktails a few times a week (or nightly) is contributing to junk in your trunk.

3. Meat eating may or may not be a culprit and you don’t know until you test. You won’t know until you commit to testing yourself. I’ve heard too many women say “I don’t think that’s a problem for me. I’ve been doing that forever.” Bingo. That statement is more of a declaration of “this is what got me here, but I’ve no intention of giving it up” so instead you’re willing to play the victim.

It’s not baffling; if you’re willing to do the due diligence and find out step-by-step which foods react poorly with your body.

For women, eating more fish (omega 3 fat) in exchange for meat can lead to weight loss. Some women in particular respond even better to this than others. It’s not necessarily true of men but women can have a certain gene that makes this a phenomenon. It’s true red meat has more saturated fat (not as evil for us as once thought) than the more beneficial Omega-3 fat in fish. Removing red meat for as little as one week to as long as three weeks may make a big difference for you. Enjoy experimenting in the interim with fish and seafood. Not only do you have many options you can prepare them in so many ethnic flavored ways that fishcan be exciting. If you’ve got memories of lemon squeezed over bland cod, you’re understandably resisting. But consider using the following:

There’s much resistance from drinking a smoothie for breakfast in some people. They seemingly are the women who have the most trouble losing weight.

If you’re not able to exercise as much as you’d like to either because of a condition (knees, fibromyalgia, arthritis), or your schedule, starting off with a high-protein fat burning breakfast is more important for you even than for someone more active.

The best way to get the 25-30 gms of protein necessary to boost lean muscle maintenance (prevent losses) and boost your fat burning all day is to start strong. A “shake” with protein powder and liquid is not a breakfast. Real food… with berries, greens, fiber sources from chia, ground flax and healthy fat from nut butter (limit peanut), or avocado or coconut oil make a meal of your smoothie.

Limited intake of healthy foods will mean limited progress with your battle of the bulge.

4. Get in your head and then get out. It is no longer possible to talk of mind, body, and spirit in isolation. They are related. If you are in your own head constantly with a negative voice or you’re simply thinking and over thinking things that do not serve you or anyone else, you’re wasting precious time on this planet. And it’s preventing your optimal health.

Identify what limiting beliefs you have about yourself. What ideas do you have about the way things need to be done that really, just don’t?

5. Don’t continue to do something you’ve always done just because you’ve always done it. Tap into your older, wiser, living proof things do improve with age. You use a dishwasher now? You use a washing machine? Smart more efficient ways of getting things done. Evolve. Your needs change.

6. Exercise wisely. Make it count. Less but of the right exercise at the right time. Heavier weight training less often and with fewer repetitions. Short interval training one or two times a week and long relaxation-inducing activity other days of the week are your core pieces of exercise for fit not fat.

If you’re comfortable and content putting on a few…around the middle or anywhere else, so be it. Just know you don’t have to be and your health and energy levels can be so much more if you give yourself the chance to change by first changing your thoughts. In twenty years, the women turning 50 and 60 and beyond will not have to wonder if “more” is possible or if they can stay sexy and vibrant in their older years. Their expectations will make them believe that is their natural destiny.

You have to make the choice whether you’re a woman who wants to pave this way or you want to be a part who gives into aging as an excuse.